Afterlife
by Bael
Summary: A ninetales without a past is confronted by a pair of restless spirits after escaping the coils of an evil arbok. Can he and his newfound friends, both living and dead, outrun his past?
1. Foiled

The sky was dark with grey clouds overhead when a lone shape dashed through a copse of trees known to the humans as scotch pines. The name of the trees, however, did not concern the shape, as the trees were blurs before him as he rushed past them with fear and fierce determination burning in his eyes.

Three more shapes followed him, each slithering their hardest, but quickly falling behind. The first shape glanced back, and allowed himself a small smile, before turning his head forward once more, and coming to a screeching halt, his brief smile instantly becoming a look of horror. Five, no, six shapes had appeared before him hissing menacingly, as the three shapes behind him quickly caught up, slowing to a halt behind their prey. One of the largest shapes slithered out from the forward group, and approached the now surrounded arcanine.

"Well, well! It seems our prized prisoner has returned to us once more," the arbok hissed, a sadistic smile spreading across his dark purple face, the scars along it elongating with the motion. "You gave a good chase, Salem, but you are one, and we are many. You should have known it was hopeless the moment you realized you were being pursued." The arcanine, Salem, bared his teeth at the arbok, and the ekans around him moved in, hissing a warning, eagerly awaiting the time when they would sink their fangs into his silver-furred flesh. "No words, Salem? From what Alicia says, you're quite good with them. Such a pity that they should fail you now," the arbok hissed in mock sympathy, and Salem's eyes narrowed further, and at last the arcanine spoke in a soft, mid-pitched voice.

"If you've harmed Alicia, I can assure you all a slow, painful death at my claws," he snarled, hiding the sense of panic that had erupted in his belly. The arbok chuckled darkly.

"Why, Salem! Didn't your Mother ever teach you not to make promises you can't keep?"

"We'll see who's laughing when you're bleeding to death at my paws."

"You're all bark and no bite, doggy. Why don't you just surrender?"

"I'll show you bite, you worthless snake," Salem snarled, and leapt for the arbok, but was quickly intercepted by two pairs of ekans, one from either side, causing him to spin, and land in a heavy roll, squirming in front of the arbok as the ekans wrapped themselves around him, preventing him from moving.

"Take him back to the Cave," the arbok said coldly, "and this time, make sure he stays there." The remaining ekans surrounded him, and began carrying him on their heads toward the last place he wanted to go. Salem, no longer squirming, watched the arbok disappear behind the horizon, glaring at the shape with fiery eyes, until finally, he disappeared altogether. Then something new appeared in his eye. It built up slowly, then seeped its way down from his lower eyelid off the bottom side of his face, and as it landed, the grey clouds rumbled, and rain began to fall, mingling with his tears and wetting his fur, as well as the ekans beneath him.

Above the morbid scene, a pair of eyes watched from the shadows of a tree, staring accusingly at the ekans, and sympathetically at the ninetales. As the party of ekans progressed, the eyes spread a pair of wings quickly, fluttering silently from branch to branch, gliding effortlessly, despite the rain that now hammered down upon the trees. Damp wings were not a problem. Soaked wings on the other hand, would keep anything from flying properly.

As the ekans reached the cave with their prisoner an hour later, they all hissed a sigh of relief. "Finally," one said, "This thing feels heavier and heavier with every passing second. I was afraid we wouldn't make it." The others hissed in agreement, for they could not nod, and entered the cave hastily. The eyes stayed under a large tree branch, safe from the majority of the rain.

The Cave was aptly named, for it was an opening in the ground that was made of solid rock. Within the Cave, there was a large pit taller than any pokemon an ekans would dare attempt to imprison, and it was into this pit that Salem was tossed, the ekans keeping him from moving sliding off just as Salem was thrown, giving them enough time to grab the ledge and pull themselves up. There was no light in the pit, and so it wasn't until Alicia spoke that he knew of her presence. "Salem? Is that you?" she cried.

"Unfortunately, Alicia. I'm afraid they caught me," Salem replied.

"No! I was sure you'd get away! How did they notice?"

"I'm not sure. There must have been an extra guard somewhere I couldn't see him."

"We must try again."

"It's no use. The foothold I found crumbled as I escaped," Salem growled, and Alicia moved towards him, nuzzling him softly.

"At least we're here together," she said, and Salem returned the nuzzle.

"Yes, and this time, we will escape together," Salem responded, and Alicia sighed. Then they both lay down together, and slowly fell asleep,

Meanwhile, the eyes continued to watch. They surveyed the rotation of guards, and scanned the size of the tunnel. And as the eyes surveyed, the mind began to plot.


	2. Escape & Tragedy

Salem was woken by the sound of hissing. It was coming from the edge of the top of the pit. He stood quickly, expecting the arbok to be standing over him, looking down, just as he had done so many times before. He looked up towards the sound, and in that moment a flash of lightning flashed outside, illuminating the silhouette of an ekans fearfully back towards the pit for a brief moment. Alicia stood, having just been woken by the boom of thunder that had accompanied the lightning.

"Salem," she whispered, "What is it?"

"The guard is afraid of the storm," Salem replied smugly. Alicia chuckled softly, and rested her head once more as Salem curled up around her. Then Salem heard something that made his eyes dart open and made him rise, growling, from his comfortable position. First there was the flutter of wings, and then a sickening snap. For a moment Salem stood, and it was not what he heard that unnerved him the most: it was what he didn't hear. The hissing had stopped.

Alicia then rose, also growling now. "Salem? What was that?" she snarled.

"You heard it too?" he responded. Alicia nodded, but it was too dark for him to see. Then there was a thud as something dropped from above, and landed right behind Salem. He jumped, and swung around, searching for the source of the sound. Another flash of lightning illuminated a portion of the pit small enough for him to see what it was that had landed behind him. It was the corpse of the ekans guarding the pit.

Alicia, too, had been startled by something she saw in the brief light of the lightning, but it had not been anything serpentine. It was a bird, and a massive one at that, perched on the edge of the pit looking down at them. _No,_ she thought as the light faded, _at __**me! **_She turned to Salem, and was about to tell him what she had seen, but he had moved the edge of the pit, and was already snarling at something there. However it was not the bird. It was a humanoid figure, kneeling at the edge of the pit, and calling down softly to Salem.

"Arcanine, you must take my hand if you are to escape," a smooth, but still urgent, voice called down to him. Salem stopped snarling briefly, and called back to the figure.

"What of my mate?" he asked.

"My friend is getting her. Take my hand. We do not have much time,'" the figure replied, and Salem looked back, indecision gripping his heart. Then he looked back at the figure, and jumped up, reaching to put his paw in its hand. Twice he missed, but on the third try, his paw brushed the figure's hand, and its hand closed around his paw, pulling him out of the pit. Then he and the figure moved as fast as thy possibly could towards the exit, the constant sound of flapping behind them. They were almost out when a pair of ekans appeared in front of them.

The figure cursed and swung at the left one, but it rolled out of the way easily, and jumped past them, while the right one jumped for the figure. Salem, given no time to look back at Alicia and the bird, tackled the ekans, snapping at its neck, but as he collided with it, it writhed out of the reach of his jaws, and snapped at his leg. Salem pulled his leg out of the way just in time, and the figure rushed over and picked up the ekans by its neck. It writhed in the figure's grip, but the figure quickly snapped its neck, the same sickening snap resounding through the trees, and it fell limp. The figure tossed the corpse to the side, and looked back at its companion. He had just finished off the other ekans, as was revealed by yet another snap, and they set off once again.

The rain was coming down hard on the bird, but it continued flying straight as well as it could. Then they dashed into the trees, and the bird set Alicia down, shivering and soaked. They were all breathing hard, but none more so, Salem heard than Alicia.

He rushed over to her estimated side, and sniffed her. The smell of the rain had nearly concealed the small odour that emanated from her side: Venom. "She's been poisoned," he snarled, looking up at the figure and the bird. The two looked at each other and then slowly back at Salem. It was still dark, but upon exiting the cave, he could just make out the shapes of the two.

"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do," the figure said sadly. Salem was shocked. He looked at the figure desperately.

"But if we don't find a cure, she-"

"Won't last the night," the bird finished. "I'm sorry arcanine, but there is nothing we can do." Tears welled up in Salem's eyes, and he looked down at the quivering figure of Alicia, slowly dying. The indecision that he had felt in the pit gripped his heart with ten times the force. If he went looking for a cure, she might die without him by her side, and yet, the desperate longing to save her was unbearable. Confused and despairing, he began to sob, tears now falling from his eyes as heavy as the rain fell from the sky.

The three stayed by her side for near an hour as the rain poured around them, until the bird, being the first to leave, perched on the branch of a nearby tree. Then ten minutes later, the figure lay on the nearby ground and slept. Salem just sat there weeping over his mate's hopeless fate. Halfway through the night, Alicia opened her eyes a little, and called to Salem, no longer crying, but with red, bloodshot eyes.

"Salem," she said weakly, and he moved in close to hear her.

"I'm here, Alicia," he said softly, curling up around her.

"Salem... am I dying?" she asked.

"No," he said softly, his heart willing it to be true. Alicia smiled slightly.

"Don't you lie to me," she said, still breathing hard. Salem forced a small smile upon himself, the motion feeling near impossible. "Salem, I need you to do something for me," she said weakly, the smile fading from her face. "I need you to- to-" she said, stumbling over the words, "to move on. Forget about me Salem, pretend I never existed. You deserve more than me," she finished, and Salem could not believe his ears, he wanted to tell her how untrue that was, but he choked on the tears once again forming in his eyes, and before he could say another word, she was gone. He sat there for a few long minutes, tears streaming down his face.

Above him, tears were forming in the bird's eyes as well. Though he had given Salem his privacy, he could not sleep while someone was dying below him. Then Salem and the bird cried themselves to sleep. The bird had saved many lives, and seen many innocent pokemon die, but never had one of them uttered the words that the now lifeless flareon had told her mate in her last moments.


	3. Solemn Travel

Salem did not move when he woke that morning. The figure, who turned out to be a gardevoir, had attempted to comfort him, but he snarled at her viciously, at which point she backed off. The bird, a pidgeot, flew down beside her and shook his head at her, telling her that now was not the time. Salem needed more time to grieve.

It was not until the afternoon that Salem rose, buried his mate, and approached the gardevoir, who was sitting against a tree. For a moment he sat behind her, unsure what to say. He wanted to thank them for saving him, but a part of him still blamed them for the death of his mate. It turned out, however, that Salem need not say anything. The gardevoir turned to Salem, and spoke softly.

"I'm sorry about your mate. What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm not sure anymore. I lost my memory not long ago. The last thing I remember was waking up to that horrible arbok curled around me, telling me that I'd committed some sort of crime. Then he threw me in the pit with Alicia. She started calling me Salem. I guess you could say that's my name, but without Alicia here to say it, it seems so foreign. So wrong," Salem finished. The gardevoir frowned, understanding the difficulty of his situation. She had assumed that Alicia was simply his mate, but now she understood that the flareon was everything to him. She and that arbok were the only things he knew.

"Well, I think we should honor her memory. I'm going to call you Salem. In all respects, it is a good name," the gardevoir said.

"And what is your name?" Salem asked.

"My name is Ophelia. Nice to meet you Salem."

"Likewise. So… where is the bird?"

"He's just checking on the arbok who kidnapped you. Making sure that they're not following," Ophelia said, I was waiting for him but he hasn't returned yet," she said, and just as Salem was about to express his worry, they both heard the flapping of wings, and turned their heads to the source. The pidgeot was flying towards them nonchalantly. They watched as he perched on the branch of the nearest tree.

"The rain washed away our tracks, making us impossible to follow," the pidgeot said, almost disappointedly. Both Ophelia and Salem breathed a sigh of relief. "However," he continued, "They are searching the area as we speak, and if we don't move now, they will surely catch us." Ophelia stood, and began moving forward immediately.

"Then we'd best get going," she said over her shoulder. Salem nodded, and began to follow.

The pidgeot landed on Salem's back, and said, "I hope you don't mind, but I had to wake up early this morning to scout, and I've been flying for hours. Would you mind if I had a nap here?" Salem did not approve of the pidgeot sitting on his back without asking, but he nodded.

"On one condition," Salem said as the pidgeot closed his eyes.

"Name it," the pidgeot said.

"Tell me your name," Salem said, and the pidgeot put one wing across his face and shook his head.

"Of course, I'm sorry. My name is Bael," the bird said, and Salem turned his head to look at him.

"Well then Bael, sleep tight," Salem answered, and turned his head forward. Bael removed his wing from his face, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

The day's journey had been a hard one. Bael had woken up in the afternoon, and continued flying, apologizing for the shallow cuts along Salem's side indicating that Bael had been dreaming. And while Bael was sleeping, Ophelia had talked quietly with Salem about his plans for the future.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do now that I'm free. I can't remember anything," Salem said to her in a whisper, then winced as Bael's talons clenched slightly around his back, Opehlia thought for a minute, before turning to Salem.

"You could stay with us. Maybe something will trigger your memory," she suggested quietly.

"Where are you two going?" he asked.

"We're not sure. We just wander. Right now it seems like we're headed for the mountains."

"I guess I could tag along for a while. I've nowhere better to be," Salem chuckled and Ophelia nodded. It was at this point that Bael awoke.

The rest of the day had been silent and awkward, with the death of Alicia hanging heavily on all their minds, and as the sun sunk beneath the sky, everyone was glad when Bael finally spoke.

"So, why were you being held captive? What did you and-"

"I don't know," Salem cut him off. "All that snake said was that I had broken a very important rule. He wouldn't tell me what it was." Bael nodded.

"What about-" he began, but again he was cut off.

"Is anyone else tired? I think we've moved enough for today," Salem said, waiting for someone to agree.

"I guess," Bael sighed, turning to look at Ophelia, shaking his head sadly. As Salem stopped and lay down on the ground, Ophelia turned to him.

"Bael and I are just going to talk a little by the nearby river," Ophelia said, turning to go. Salem did not stop them. As they disappeared, Salem focused on the sound of rushing water. He hadn't noticed it before, but now that he did, he heard it constantly. It was somewhat calming, but at the same time, it saddened him to know that Alicia would have curled up against him and fallen asleep to that sound.

Salem sighed sadly, and put his head on his paws, closing his eyes, and listening to the rushing water, missing Alicia now more than he had the entire day. And as he listened, another pair of eyes watched him fondly.

_I'm sorry…_


	4. Arguments & Strange Happenings

As Ophelia and Bael reached the river, the gardevoir turned elegantly and smacked the giant bird across the face. Bael, utterly shocked, turned angrily to his friend.

"What was that for?" he cried, a hard look on his face.

"Dead girlfriend is a BAD subject! You should know that more than anyone else Bael!" she responded coldly. Bael's expression changed from anger to pain.

"That was uncalled for and you know it. We agreed that was never to be brought up again."

"Then let's make the same agreement with _him. _You might not have grieved for Angela for more than an hour or two, but it's going to take him a lot longer to get over her." Bael's pained expression faded, the look of anger returning.

"And how would you know that? You haven't known him any longer than I have!" Ophelia sighed and shook her head sadly.

"You just don't get it, do you? She was the only thing he knew besides that snake. He can't remember anything before that hole. She was his world."

"And you think Angela wasn't mine? You remember what my life was like before her! You remember what I went through! Day after day I wished that someone would take me away, and she did! You just stood by and said NOTHING! Don't tell me that he's had it harder than I have, because he hasn't! I still have scars from my past! What's he got to show for his?"

"NOTHING! He has NOTHING! No parents! No siblings! No mate! And most importantly," Ophelia concluded, tears forming in her eyes, "No friends. No one to rely on, and no one to love." Bael's expression softened, and he turned away.

"Sometimes, Ophelia, nothing is better than something. At least he doesn't still have nightmares about his childhood," he finished, turning to look at her for a brief second, before spreading his massive wings, and flew away. Ophelia stood and watched as he faded into the distance, and the tears that had been pooling in her eyes fell, and all she could think of was the look on Bael's face as he had turned to her. His eyes, too, were filled with tears.

Ophelia sat by the river for a few minutes, thinking about the past that they had argued about so short a time ago, before getting up and returning to the spot where Salem had rested for the night, but upon reaching said spot, Salem was nowhere to be found. Ophelia knelt and began searching for tracks, and, upon finding them, she rose and began to follow them into the forest.

Salem awoke with a start, expecting to find himself back in the pit, curled up around Alicia, but after moment, the confusion faded, and Salem remembered all that had happened. Their escape from the cave and Alicia's death and the words she spoke to him just before she closed her eyes for the last time. He sighed.

"_I don't know if I can do it Alicia. You were everything. And now that you're gone…" _he thought, unable to finish his sentence.

_I ..n .r..g .e. ..c. _

Salem's head rose sharply from his paws. "Who's there?"

_ B.. y.. ..s. .o ..m..h..g .o. .e_

"What do you want me to do?" Salem asked, responding to the voice whispering in his mind.

_L.t .e i._

"How do I know this isn't a trick?" Salem asked, the voice growing slightly louder. The voice did not answer, but instead, a figure stepped from the shadows, and Salem gasped. He was about to speak, but suddenly he felt chilled to the bone, and his eyes drooped. One name resounded in his mind as he lost consciousness.

_Alicia…_

Ophelia had followed the tracks for near five minutes when she passed something she found familiar. The spot where she had first found the tracks was before her, but something new had been added since the last time she had been there.

"Salem!" she cried, rushing over to his side as he began to stir. As she approached, however, she noticed another new addition to the scene. Salem was curled up around something, or rather, someone. Someone that made Ophelia stop, and back away. "N- no! It can't be!" she half-stammered.

Salem lifted his head, and looked up at Ophelia with tears in his eyes. "Ophelia, she's alive…"


	5. Capture & Almost Certain Death

Ophelia struggled to hide her genuine shock, but was unable. Her jaw hit the floor. Theories flew through her mind; what if this, and what if that? Although amongst all the muddled confusion, one fact came through her mouth, the only sensible thought in her head at the time. "That can't be her! She- she-"Ophelia stuttered, and yet there she was curled up against the arcanine's large silver-furred stomach, eyes just beginning to open.

"Salem? What's going on?" Alicia asked. Ophelia drew back.

"Salem," Ophelia cried, "You know that can't be-"

"But it is!" Salem interrupted joyfully. "It is her! I'd know her scent anywhere!"

"Salem, why are you shouting?" Alicia asked now fully awake. She looked around, and upon seeing Ophelia, her face lit up. "Hey! You're the one who rescued us! Thank you!" she shouted.

Ophelia's revulsion faded slightly. "You remember that?" Ophelia queried suspiciously.

"Of course! You're our saviors! You and that bird pokemon! I couldn't see it, but I could tell it was a bird." Salem gave Ophelia a pleading look. Understanding what he was asking, she sighed.

"I'm going back down to the river to think. I'll be back soon," Ophelia announced, her voice trailing off into nothing. Then she turned slowly in the direction of the river from which she had come, and left, glancing back at the pair to make sure she hadn't imagined the whole thing.

Once she had left, Salem yawned. "Tired, Salem?" she giggled. He smiled and nodded.

"I was woken by a mysterious stranger," he chuckled. Alicia nuzzled him and curled up against him again.

"Then let us resume sleeping," she sighed, and closed her eyes. Salem did the same, and prayed that he had not dreamed the whole encounter. He was just drifting off when he heard flapping wings. He could guess who it was, and as he opened his eyes, and looked toward the source of the noise, he could see that he was right.

"You're wings are quite loud you kn-"he started to say, but was interrupted.

"Salem! Where's Ophelia?" Bael cried urgently.

"She went down by the riv-" Salem started, but was interrupted again, but not by speech this time, but by the sound of Bael shrieking, and bolting in that direction. Salem rose, and almost unknown to him, Alicia rose as well. "Alicia, stay here. Something's wrong. I'll be back soon," he said, and Alicia began to run with him. "Alicia, I told you-"

"If something's wrong I want to help," she shouted, and there was something in her voice he had never heard before. Something that demanded he let her do what she wanted to. He was about to ignore it, and protest, but when he looked her in the eye, he found himself unable to do anything but nod, and continue onward.

Upon reaching the river, Salem's hackles rose instantly. The arbok was curled around an unconscious Ophelia, his fangs right near her throat. Salem was about to leap, but the arbok hissed, causing him to pause. Bael was perched on the branch of the tree nearest to the shore of the river, just behind Salem, his face grim. Nobody moved, and nobody spoke for a long while. The arbok was the one to break the silence.

"My, my, isn't this quite the predicament. Your lovely little rescuer caught in my coils, and you cannot help her. It seems the odds are in my favor," he hissed, then chuckled hoarsely without taking his fangs from her throat.

"What do you want?" Bael asked.

"I want _him,_" the arbok said, nodding towards Salem.

"Never!" Alicia cried, but Salem stepped forward. "Salem, no! You just escaped! You can't go back now," she protested. Salem turned to her and winked, then began walking toward the arbok.

"Alright then, here I am! I'd like to know how you're going to get me back to that hole without dropping the gardevoir," he commented in a sarcastic tone. The arbok chuckled.

"Do you honestly think I would come alone?" he laughed, and several ekans appeared, two wrapping around Bael, and one around Alicia, as well as a few who surrounded Salem, but stayed at a distance. "You will come with me, or your other friend and your mate will die. Once we are safely on our way, I will let them go," the arbok offered, an evil grin plastered on his face. Salem sighed, and looked back at Alicia, and then at Bael.

"Alright. I'll go," he said, and allowed the surrounding ekans to wrap around him, and pick him up once more on their heads.

"Excellent. Looks like I won't be needing this any more," the arbok chuckled darkly, and nonchalantly tossed Ophelia into the river.

"No," all three of the captives screamed, and all three struggled to free themselves from the ekans encircling them, but none could escape, and they all watched helplessly as Ophelia's head disappeared beneath the waves. Tears rolled down Salem's eyes.

Despite having known Ophelia for so little a time, he found that he genuinely cared for her, and watching her being tossed to her death upset him greatly.

"Now we shall be on our way," the arbok sighed, and turned to leave.

"Wait," Salem cried, "What about my friends?" The arbok chuckled.

"They will coming as well," he hissed slyly, and cackled as he began to slither away from the river, his captives in tow.

Everything had gone according to plan.


	6. The Whisperer

As the ekans guards slithered slowly through the forest, heading back towards the pit, their captives remained silent. The guards, however, were far from it. They chatted away most of the time, and as nightfall fell over them like a great blanket, their talk grew less and less cheery, and more focused on supernatural events.

"I hear strange noises out here while I'm on patrol. All kinds of non-pokemon sounds. It chills me to the bone," said one.

"You must be hearing things. Whenever I'm on patrol I never hear anything," countered another.

"That's because you never listen. You're always so focused on your own thoughts. I'll bet a wailord could sneak up on you while you're on patrol," chuckled the first.

"Oh give et a rest two. Quit yer yappin' or I'll have you both-" began a third, but he was cut off by the first.

"Shh! I heard something! Just over there! Those bushes moved!"

"Probably just a pachirisu," said the second. The first said nothing, but did not look at all at ease. For a minute, all was silent. Then, something darted across the path ahead of them.

"You see," cried the first guard, "There is something out here!"

"Of course there is," exclaimed a fourth guard near the back, "Don't you know the legend of the Whisperer?" The first guard gulped.

"No. What is it," he asked in a shaky voice wrought with fear. The second and third guards rolled their eyes.

"That's just a myth," laughed the second guard in a non-chalant tone of voice.

"No it's not," the fourth piped up, "I've seen it with my own eyes, though only briefly. Paler than fresh snow, and faster than lightning. It never makes more than whisper before it puts its victims to sleep, and drowns them in the nearest river."

"Right, I'm sooooo scared," sneered the second sarcastically, and then suddenly, let out a huge yawn. The first guard was shaking in fear for a moment, before he, too relaxed, and yawned. Within seconds all the guards were yawning, and curling up to go to sleep.

Even the captives could not help but yawn, and soon both guards and captives were sleeping soundly, oblivious to the snow white shape that fluttered up slowly and whispered, "Sweet dreams."

I know this is a sorry excuse for a chapter, but it's almost 1:00 in the morning and I finally decided how I'm going to get on with this story, and now I'm too tired to write any more. I'll probably have another half of a chapter up soon. Sorry.


	7. Awakening

Bael awoke peacefully, much to his surprise. The arbok were gone, but so were his friends. It was dark, and dank, and more cramped then he preferred, despite the fact that there was just enough room to stretch his wings. His movements were sluggish, and his thoughts were hazy. He knew that this had not been a natural sleep. Suddenly there was a flutter, and a flash of something white, but it was too quick for Bael to comprehend anything but a blur, partially because of the fog in his brain, and partially because of the lack of light. Then he heard something behind him, and he could only just make words out of the whispers.

"There is no need to panic. Your friends are safe. The ekans are dead. The enemy is unable to find you. You are safe," the whispers said, and as the haze lifted slowly, Bael felt a slight wind on his back, probably the thing behind him flapping its wings. He turned his head slowly, and came face to face, although only for a split second, with a snow white Venomoth, before it vanished with a furious fluttering of wings, and a slight breeze. The air down there was very stagnant, and Bael imagined that he might suffocate if he didn't get to the surface soon. There was a tunnel up ahead just large enough for him to waddle through.

So waddle he did, down the dark tunnel before him. His breathing was heavy, and he coughed a few times as he accidentally inhaled a small portion of dirt, before seeing a light up ahead. He waddled quicker, and finally got his first good look at the Venomoth. Its large eyes squinted against the harsh light atop its pale, crown-shaped head. It seemed to be waiting for him to follow it, but he stopped to drink in the sunlight that poured into the dank cave from a hole several feet above him. He lifted his wings, preparing to launch himself through the hole.

The arcanine had been nothing but trouble for Bael. He had pitied him briefly, but he never really liked him all that much. He imagined his life would have been simpler if he had never listened to Ophelia and her stupid plan to help the arcanine and his stupid girlfriend. His heart felt a stab of pain as he remembered Ophelia, and that sealed the decision. He didn't care about the two canines, and now they had this freaky Venomoth to help them out. They didn't need him. And he didn't want them.

But as he willed his wings to flap, he found himself unable to move them. They were being held down by some invisible weight, and he looked to the Venomoth, but it was already behind him. "You must stay. It is still not safe. Your wings will not help you if they see you in the sky. They have asked the help of a nearby clan of birds to help find you. They are larger than you," the Venomoth whispered, and Bael's eyes went wide. There was only one bird larger than a pidgeot, and that was a Noctowl. He had not been in the area long, so he couldn't imagine what their motives would be, but he knew that he didn't stand a chance against them.

He lowered his wings, and turned to the Venomoth, sighing as he did so. "Fine, I'll st-" he started, but stopped when he saw that the Venomoth was no longer behind him. He looked back to the beam of light, and saw that the Venomoth was there once again. He moved toward the Venomoth, and was about to speak again, but he found his beak unable to open. He took that as a signal to be quiet, and nodded. The Venomoth fluttered slowly down another tunnel, and Bael reluctantly followed.


End file.
